Burgos wind project named Renewables Deal of the Year

MANILA, Philippines - The 150 megawatt Burgos wind project of the Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. (EDC) has received recognition from Project Finance International (PFI).

In an announcement issued over the weekend, EDC said its Burgos project has been named the Asia-Pacific Renewables Deal of the Year, the only project in the Philippines that received the 2014 recognition.

“The PFI awards, which will take place on Feb. 4 in London, United Kingdom, is widely considered to be the most prestigious award in the global project finance industry given to projects that achieved innovative deal structuring and execution for the year, “ EDC said.  

PFI, which recognizes energy projects around the globe, cited the Burgos wind farm as a ground breaking project for being the first wind farm project financing in the Philippines to reach financial close.   It also noted that EDC achieved financial close despite the absence of an off-take agreement.

Furthermore, PFI said financing for the project is a significant achievement by EDC’s project and finance teams, and that developers and banks will welcome this sign of confidence in the Philippines’ renewable sector and its Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) scheme.

FIT is a set of incentives given by the government to encourage renewable energy players.

EDC welcomed the recognition.

 “We are honored by the recognition given by the international finance community.  This is a resounding vote of confidence for EDC’s execution capability and a validation of the country’s sound energy policies that generate investments for the Philippines.  We believe that this will encourage more financial support to boost much needed renewable energy development in the country,” EDC president and chief operating officer Richard Tantoco said.

BWP was commissioned on November following its nomination by the Department of Energy (DOE) for FIT eligibility.

In all, the project has a capacity of 150 MW for both phase 1 and 2.oth Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the project.

On Dec.18, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the power regulator issued the Provisional authority to operate the BWP.

The project is EDC’s first foray into the wind energy business.  It represents the company’s single largest investment to date, with an investment of $450 million.

The amount includes the $315 million in project financing with leading international and local banks led by EKF, Denmark’s export credit agency.

EDC said the project will provide 370 GWh of electricity to power approximately 2 million households and the project will displace about 200,000 tons of carbon emissions annually.

At 150 MW, the BWP is the largest wind farm in the Philippines, EDC also said.